Press Releases

STEVE GALLUCCIO at LAURIER MACDONALD HIGH SCHOOL

Montreal, MARCH 28, 2013 -- More than 1500 students from Laurier Macdonald High School and the Riverside School Board will attend their very own one-day Canadian film festivals through the REEL CANADA "Our Films In Our Schools" program, in partnership with LEARN Quebec. All films to be screened were chosen by the student participants themselves.

Films to be screened on Wed, April 3 at Laurier Macdonald H.S. are Mambo ItalianoandThe Trotsky.

Appearing in person to discuss his work will be STEVE GALLUCCIO, creator of the play and co-screenwriter of the screenplay Mambo Italiano.

Films to be screened on Thurs, April 4 at Cineplex Odeon Brossard for students at Riverside School Board are:

The Trotsky (2009), How She Move (2007), The Rocket (2005) and Bon Cop, Bad Cop (2006)

Appearing in person to discuss their work will be ERIK CANUEL, director of Bon Cop/Bad Cop; JACOB TIERNEY, director of The Trotsky; and KEVIN DUHANEY, DANIEL KEITH MORRISON & TRISTAN D. LALLA, stars of How She Move.

REEL CANADA founders Jack Blum and Sharon Corder will also be present both days.

Now in its eighth season, REEL CANADA has presented more than 500 screenings of Canadian features, documentaries and animated films to over 100,000 students across Canada.

Created by a committee of passionate filmmakers and dedicated educators in 2005, REEL CANADA is designed to foster greater awareness of, and pride in, Canadian films, by bringing the excitement ofa film festival experience directly into high schools. It is an immersive, dynamic learning experiencethat introduces teenage audiences to homegrown films and filmmakers.

Academy Award-nominated director and REEL CANADA board member Atom Egoyan is one of the many celebrated filmmakers who have presented their work to students through REEL CANADA, noting “[i]t’s the dream of any filmmaker to engage in a dialogue with an audience. [The teenage]audience is the most difficult to reach, so the experience of such an intimate response is a careerhighlight for me.”

Canada faces a unique challenge in that it must create and maintain a viable cultural identity in the face of an overwhelming amount of movies and television from the U.S. that permeate our own culture. By engaging future audiences and inspiring filmmakers at home, REEL CANADA helps to foster a sense of pride for Canadian culture among high school students and helps build future audiences for Canadian film.

A recent study by YOUTHOGRAPHY, Canada's leading youth research organization, shows that REEL CANADA participants respond much more enthusiastically to Canadian films than non-participating teens surveyed nationally. In fact, positive responses rose an average of ten percentage points above the national average across a wide variety of attitudes, and when asked if they wanted to learn more about Canadian movies and the people who make them, affirmative responses rose from 39% to an astonishing 90%.

"The Youthography Report demonstrates dramatically what we've been saying all along," said executive director Jack Blum. "If we give kids an opportunity to see the great films we make in Canada, they absolutely love them. There's nothing like watching the students realize that these great films belong to them."

REEL CANADA is made possible by the generous support of our Founding Sponsor Telefilm Canada, and Premier Corporate Sponsor Cineplex Entertainment. National expansion is supported by a grant under the Youth Take Charge program of the Department of Canadian Heritage.